Irvine Valley sophomore baseball player Cole Joy has signed with NCAA Division 1 Long Beach State.
Joy, who was named a first team all-Orange Empire Conference player in 2017 for IVC, was a catcher and played in the outfield over his two years with the Lasers.
He had a breakout year in 2017. He hit a team-best .368 on the year and finished with 53 hits, 25 runs scored, three home runs, one triple, four doubles and 21 RBI.
Joy was second on the team in hits and runs, tied for the team lead in home runs and finished tied for third in RBI. He also struck out just 12 times in 144 at bats.
Joy also led the team in on base percentage at .425 and in slugging percentage at .472.
He had 18 multi-hit games and three games with three hits.
Joy hit a team-best .384 in conference play with 28 hits, two home runs and 11 RBI. He also had a .444 on base percentage and .507 slugging percentage in conference.
Joy helped the Lasers finish with a record of 19-24 overall and 6-15 in the tough Orange Empire Conference in 2017. Irvine Valley still made the playoffs and won its first game, beating Chaffey, 11-2, on the road.
Joy, who played at Mission Viejo High before coming to Irvine Valley, joins a Long Beach State program that finished with a record of 42-20-1 overall in 2017. It was one of the most successful Dirtbags season in recent memory with the team winning more than 40 games for the first time since 2004, capturing a Big West Conference title and making it to the Super Regionals.